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Data from qualitative field studies of 22 cross-race (African-American and white) supportive work relationships between pairs of junior and senior people are used to examine how people's strategies for dealing with the issue of race affect the kind of relationship that develops between the two and whether the senior person becomes merely a sponsor for the protg providing him or her with career support such as advocacy for promotions, feedback, and coaching, or whether the senior person becomes a mentor, offering psychosocial support and friendship along with instrumental career support. The study showed that the parties' preferred strategy for dealing with racial difference--either denying and suppressing it or discussing it openly--and whether both parties preferred the same strategy influenced the kind of relationship that developed. Only when the parties preferred the same strategy did the more supportive mentor-protg relationship develop. The paper provides a model of how racial dynamics affect cross-race developmental relationships.*
In the past several years, race relations has continued to grow in importance as a topic of academic interest. It is now recognized that despite gains made since the 1960s, racial inequalities persist (Hacker, 1992). Furthermore, sustained interracial contact occurs primarily in the workplace, as most Americans continue to live in racially homogeneous communities with little social interaction across the racial divide. Yet organizational research has rarely focused on the dynamics of interracial work-centered relationships and thus has offered little to advance our understanding of the influence of race on organizational processes or to address practitioners' concerns about managing racial diversity in organizations (Alderfer and Thomas, 1988).
This article examines how racial dynamics influence the outcome of cross-race developmental relationships between African-American and white professionals and managers. Developmental relationships, between a junior person and a relatively more senior person, serve to enhance the career development of the junior person. Thomas and Kram (1988) have studied the outcome and benefits of developmental relationships by examining what support the relationship provides and the kind of emotional bond that characterizes it. They identified two categories of developmental relationships. The first, sponsor-protg relationships, provides only instrumental career support, such as advocacy for promotions, performance feedback, coaching, protection, and challenging work assignments. These sponsorship relationships can be critical to helping the junior person meet key requirements for...